Ordinary goodness can make a difference to the world

Introducing Isra

Those of you reading along will remember my last two blog posts have been about the hedgehog who visited my garden needing to drink lots of water.

It is winter here so hedgehogs should all be tucked up in a safe nest hibernating. Sick hedgehogs do not hibernate and seek water in an attempt to stave off dehydration caused by illness. Mange is a common and very debilitating illness for hedgehogs and this is what was causing my visitor to call at lunch time.

A friend alerted me to the fact that the visiting hedgehog was likely to be unwell and gave me the contact details of a woman who knows how to treat and care for sick hedgehogs.

In my last post I detailed the capture of the little one.
Today I learnt that the hedgehog is definitely a female. I had searched out a name for a male and for a female. There are websites for hedgehog names!

I chose Isra for a female. It is an Algerian name meaning “journeying by night” which is what this little one should be back doing next spring and summer once she is deemed to be well. Hedgehogs can cover remarkably long distances during the hours of darkness.

For those of you wondering about the male name I had selected, I had chosen Tsini, a Hausa name meaning Spike.

Isra is doing well. The crusts caused by mange have dropped away from her eyes. She is eating well and being given vitamins to assist in her healing. She adores her heating disc, much like Jazz, our cat does and apparently stretches out over the welcome warmth.

I am very grateful to the carer who willingly takes in sick or injured hedgehogs and cares for them, mostly out of her own pocket. I will keep you posted re progress over winter as Isra will not be allowed to hibernate and will only be released in spring if she is fit and strong enough.

Jacqui, the hedgehog rescue and care lady is posting update comments still to my previous posts if you would like to read those too.

She did have a very long drink and came back at the same time the next day for more! That meant I could capture her and keep her safe until the rescue woman came to collect her. Sick hedgehogs are very thirsty hedgehogs.

What a happy ending for Isra. I presume the reason she’s not allowed to hibernate is because she doesn’t have enough healthy bulk to see her through the winter. It sounds as though she must be in hedgehog heaven. There might even be a male hedgehog to keep her company.

Isra’s future does sound hopeful. I think if sick/recovering hedgehogs are allowed to go into hibernation they get very cold and die from that. Part of curing the mange means the quills drop out and they won’t regrow until spring. I think you are correct about Isra being in hog heaven with the carer. Plenty of food, water, vitamins, a secure cage and a heating disc. The carer does have others under treatment so a chap may be on offer once healthy and strong. The release site sounds very safe for hedgehogs too.

Good news, and I love your choice of name 🙂 (I had no idea there were websites for hedgehog names!!!) And will you be getting Isra micro-chipped so you can follow her progress once she is released? 😉
I didn’t know you could get heating discs for animals – love the thought of little Isra stretching out on one and luxuriating in its warmth, LOL! My Henry Lee’s heating disc is my lap 😉

I really liked the two names I had found – there is a website for truly everything! Jazz loves a warm lap too just like Henry Lee. Jazz is also enjoying his heating disc. I posted about Jazz and his new heating disc here. I got it from an online pet store. The release site for Isra is very rural and predator free apart from the occasional hawk. The site is owned by a hog lover!

I hope she will have a happy life when she is strong enough to leave the carer some time in spring. There is a wonderful rural property that is far from roads and the only predator is the occasional hawk. The land owner is a hedgehog lover so it sounds perfect.

We do not have hedgehogs here although I have heard of them and read about them in books and in stories. I am finding this whole process very interesting and am very thankful you were able to capture the little animal and find treatment for her!

Thanks Linda. I will post updates as I receive them. I was surprised to learn some time back that there are no hedgehogs in America. They were introduced here by the early European migrants. They do eat some of our native fauna which tests many people but they love slugs and snails so perhaps balance out their impact.